The Paths we Take. . .

As long as I can remember, I have always been intrigued by pathways.  When you see one doesn’t it just make you want to see where it may lead you?

Creating various paths in your garden makes it more inviting.

Whenever you explore a pathway you never know what you might find or who you might meet. 

Recently we walked 110 km. of the Camino de Santiago in Spain.  Along the way we treaded upon many a paths.

In this post I will share pathways as well as a little about the people we met.

Just gotta ask, “does this back pack make my butt look fat?”  lol!

This pathway led us through a dense forest where the tree trunks were covered with moss and ivy.  A winding trail that took us across a wood planked bridge.

This one led us along a path lined with a stone wall.

The first night (yes, we started at night.  Something we realized afterwards that you don’t do).  We almost had to sleep on the ground.  That’s a story for another post.  We only crossed paths with one pilgrim that evening. (Should have been our first clue about not hiking at night) He had a dog with leather tied around his feet and a sign on his humble one man tent that said, “For Rent”.

Often we would trod past water.  It tempted us to stop and dip our feet.  But we knew that we must trek forward,

When this coke machine crossed my path I knew then that I COULD make it!  Hee-hee!

We crossed this stone path at dusk.  It didn’t get dark until between 10-10:30 p.m.

We walked through cemeteries.

Some paths were steep while others meandered.

Many stone paths led us through quaint villages.  Sometimes the farmers would be outside to encourage us or just to say, “hola”.

Sometimes we passed (very close I might add) cows along the path.

We met one 71 year old  man from Portugal.  He had started from the beginning, 800 km.  His name was Emilio.  He was an amazing man who was on day 25 of walking.  He could out walk even our daughter and sil.

At times we saw lots of pilgrims.  Often visiting along the way.  Whenever someone passed you would hear the words, “Bueno Camino!”

We met a couple from Germany that had walked 1/3 of the camino in ‘2009’.  They returned in ‘2011’ and walked another third.  This year they finished.

One couple were on their honeymoon.

We met a large group from Ireland.  They walk the Camino every year.  People sponsor them and they raise money for MS.  A disease that seems to be prevalent in their country.

We met a lot of people from Virginia Tech.  The Spanish teacher seemed to be staying in the same places we were each evening.  She told us that they teach a class on the Camino and that they had asked her to come along.

In the end, this is where all of our many paths led us.  Simply Breathtaking!

 

I hope that you find many paths to explore in your lifetime.  With the Lords blessing, hopefully we’ll stay on the right path.

hugs,

Jann